The Black Lives Matter Oral History Project (BLMOHP) is a two-year collaborative project between Dr. Andrew Maginn (Department of History) and Dr. Rachel Fredericks (Office of Inclusive Excellence) at Sewanee: The University of the South. The mission is to help students develop a place-based narrative project that assists them in understanding how the Black Lives Matter Movement impacted those within their home communities. Students in Dr. Maginn’s history classes learned oral history principles and best practices before engaging family, friends, and community leaders to hear, collect, and preserve their stories. The plan is for this project to grow with the support of internal and external funding and collaborators. 

Progress thus far:

Fall 2023

The first round of participants in the BLMOHP conducted oral interviews during the Fall of 2023. These eleven students in the course HIST 318 Black Power to Black Lives Matter interviewed 55 of their family, friends, and community leaders between October 31 and December 2, 2023. Of these 48 interviewees agreed to have their interviews shared with the Public. Students then transcribed their respected interviews and participated in creating an Omeka-S website in collaboration with Styles by Design, the Library and Information Technology Services, and the William R. Laurie Archives and Special Collections.

Spring 2024

To further assist in public understanding of the geography of the Black Lives Matter Oral History Project, Dr. Maginn and his work-study Andrew Quinonez created an ArcGIS Dashboard. Please review it on the "See Our Map" page. 

The second round of participants in the BLMOHP will be conducting oral interviews during the Spring of 2024. Sixteen students in the course HIST 232 African American History since 1865 will interview their family, friends, and community leaders during Black History Month. If you want to share your stories and experiences, please contact Dr. Andrew Maginn at awmaginn@sewanee.edu.